Marxism
does not involve revolutionary peasants. To Marx, the
peasants were conservative rather than radicle.
"[The peasant] fight against the bourgeoisie, to
save from extinction their existence as fractions of the
middle class. They are therefore not revolutionary, but
conservative. Nay more, they are reactionary, for they
try to roll back the wheel of history." The
revolutionary class in China was not composed entirely of
the proletariat. The peasants actually made up of the
majority of the revolutionary class. China's revolution
can be summed up in terms of the peasant's revolt, for it
was the peasants who provided the backbone of the
revolution. They supplied the Chinese Red Army with food
and shelter, and even enlisting in the army which was
composed almost entirely of peasant farmers. They did not
try to reverse history as Marx envisioned, but helped to
advance the revolution. "Given time the [Chinese]
Red Army could turn defeat into final victory. But it had
to live off the land and this was possible only if the
peasants and the countryfolk accepted and supported
them." Without the peasants, it is doubtful any
revolution after the Guomindang took power would have
been successful at all. Unlike the industrialized nations
where peasants were grouped with the capitalistic middle
class, Chinese peasants were closer to the proletariat.

The
proletariat and peasant farmers were similar. They were
in the bottom strata of an oppressive hierarchy, making
up the masses. They were the backbone of the society, and
were exploited by the people above them. "All
previous historical movements were movements of
minorities, or in the interest of minorities. The
proletarian movement is the self conscious, independent
movement of the immense majority, in the interest of the
immense majority." The proletariat class to Marx is
synonymous to the Chinese serfs. The Communist Revolution
of China offered many promising reforms to the poor
peasant farmers whom never had much power in the past.
Like the proletariat, the peasant class was an immense
group which was often neglected. Both the proletariat and
the peasants usually lived an unpleasant life. The
industrial workers of Europe lived in filthy slums where
little attention was paid to their welfare. There was
little security. If someone was injured, then they would
become unemployed and effectively left to die. Children
often fell asleep in front of dangerous machines. The
peasant farmers were no better off.

When the peasant is ruined, he has to sell his field and
his hut. If it happens to be a good year, he may just be
able to pay his debts. But no sooner and has the harvest
been brought in than the grain bins are empty again, and
contract in hand and sack on back, he has to go off and
start borrowing again. He has heavier interest to pay,
and soon he has not got enough to eat. If there is a
famine he falls into utter ruin. Families disperse,
parents separate, they seek to become slaves, and no one
will buy them.